


Fatebreaker

by Aphrodeviance



Category: Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon)
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:00:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23621212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aphrodeviance/pseuds/Aphrodeviance
Summary: A teenage, battle-hardened Adorabat must travel back in time to prevent her own past from coming true. What went wrong? Is fate so easy to change? And why is Mao Mao acting so strange?
Comments: 7
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

A teenage bat stood to her feet, observing her surroundings closely. The cracked temple walls were covered in moss and had roots growing in from the seams on the ceiling. The air was wet and cold, but it was nothing she wasn’t used to. White and red paint was scattered across the room in ancient symbols, which she couldn’t read. She didn’t have time to read them anyways.

Clicking with her tongue a few times and rotating her large ears, she performed a quick topographic survey. Her eyes locked onto a spot in the corner of the room, a spot on the back wall with a single familiar symbol painted across it. For the first time in a very long time, a smile spread across her face.

“It’s hollow. There’s a passage on the other side,” she said aloud.

She took out a small device with entangled copper wires and aluminum casing. On the backside was a small green button. She pressed it and listened for high-pitched ticking. It was of a frequency so high, most other animals couldn’t make it out. Once she heard it, she threw the device before the wall and observed.

As expected, the device detonated with a loud crash. Dust filled the room, expanding in a large cloud of smoke.

Something shifted in the dust behind her; she heard a scrape against the stone floor. Someone was clearly using the smoke and noise as cover. 

She turned quickly, lifting her arms and then giving her wings a short burst of downward momentum. Bladed metal attachments on the ends of her wings fanned out in response. “You thought I wouldn’t hear? What are you, stupid? Look at what I am. I have echolocation, dummy.”

A familiar voice responded to her; feminine, but of a lower register. “A bat. Makes you hard to sneak up on...”

Fear rushed into her system first; a quick jolt of adrenaline to her brain. She could barely make out a silhouette through the chalky dust. Suddenly it rippled and deformed, darting quickly out of sight faster than her eyes could follow.

“...But not impossible,” it said from two feet behind her.

She went to turn, but her rotating head made contact with a fist that seemed to come out of nowhere. She staggered back, but managed to keep standing. Just as fast as the figure came, it was gone again.

“For years, I’ve tried to find you. Hand it over, Adorabat. Give me the sword.”

The fear quickly settled in her stomach, then curled into something nastier. She gritted her teeth. Just the sound of her voice; that cocky, prideful tone she held. It _sickened_ her.

“You. I should have figured.”

Closing her eyes and listening closely, Adorabat tried to locate the voice’s source through the dust. She felt reverberations in front of her; the shape of a feminine figure.

“If I can’t see you, you can’t see me either,” the bat spoke, "but I can hear where you are quite clearly." Reaching into the pouch on her side, she took out another bomb, clutching it behind her back and clicking the button. 

“Is that so?” the voice replied.

“Yeah. So there's no point in hiding.” She gently lowered the bomb to the ground and set it behind her foot. _Five seconds until it goes boom_ , she thought. She took out a makeshift spear, its long, golden blade at the end scratched and aged from use.

Finally, her attacker came into view; a cozumel fox with yellow, piercing eyes. Her right eye had a scar that ran from above her brow down toward the corner of her lip, and her right ear had a large slice that had been cut fairly deep. Her fiery orange and dark grey fur was coated in a thin layer of dust, but a shiny golden amulet on her chest remained clean. The amulet was nestled in her chest between the leather of the purple jacket she wore, which matched the purple pair of plated knee pads below it. In contrast, a set of yellow fingerless gloves and a yellow sash were tied across her waist. Behind her, protruding from her back, was an array of twisted, contorting hands, painted a shade of opaque black. Their forms behaved like flames as they clawed at the air intermittently. The fox’s own form wavered slightly as well, but her eyes remained constant and cold.

Adorabat knew her well; this fox was branded into her memory. Her fists began to shake, and tears welled up in her eyes just at the sight of the woman. _Not here_ , she told herself, _I can still change all of it. Don’t fight her here._

“Wow, are you gonna cry?” the woman asked with a chuckle, starting to walk closer.

Steeling herself, Adorabat backed her foot around and kicked the bomb, and with a grinding noise against the stone floor, it slid over to the woman’s feet. Surprised, she leapt backward into the descending dust just before the device detonated. Another plume of thin dirt blew out across the room as the fox cried out in pain.

Adorabat turned and dashed for the wall she’d destroyed earlier, clambering through its rubble edges. She entered into a short hall, running as fast as her legs could take her. _Come on; come on!_

She reached the end of the passage, and before her was a little room with a single pedestal in its center. The room was lit only by a small object on top of the pedestal; a glowing, glass cube, sparkling vibrantly. Within it was a swirling, colorful medium of blues and purples. Adorabat hurried over to it, closing her small bat claws over its glossy surface. _This is it, my one-way ticket to fix everything._ Tears began to fall from her eyes, and a grimace of concern spread across her face as she squeezed it tightly. _Please work…_

“Stop!” the voice of the woman called from the passage. She appeared at the entrance to the room and struggled to lean against the wall. Her leg was badly hurt and bleeding profusely. “If you use the key and change the timeline, you’ll-”

Adorabat glared at her with disdain. “I know, and I don’t care. A hero does what’s right...”

The shimmering cube before her almost whispered to her, tempted her further as she gazed at it.

“A hero does what’s right, even if it kills them.”

Ten black, fiery hands shot out from behind the fox's back, launching themselves at her recklessly. “You can’t play God!” she yelled, “You can’t change what’s been done!”

Without a second thought, Adorabat twisted the cube, initiating the mechanism within.

“Watch me,” she replied, just before her form dissipated into thin air.


	2. Chapter 2

“Adorabat, stop it! That’s enough,” Mao Mao commanded in a low whisper. “We’re exploring an ancient cavern system, untouched for years and probably full of monsters, and both of you are talking at full volume like a couple of children.”

“I  _ am  _ a child!” Adorabat responded cheerily.

“I don’t understand how-” Badgerclops began to say, then paused to swallow a bite of his bagel, “-any monsters could possibly live in a cave like this. The entrance was blocked off by rocks. We had to clear it out ourselves. Nothing living here could get any food from outside.”

“There could be another entrance we just haven’t founded yet,” the tiny blue bat perched on Badgerclops’ shoulder proposed.

Mao Mao looked at her dumbfoundedly. “Adorabat, who’s your English teacher? We need to have a talk.”

Something murmured from just around the corner. It sounded familiar, but Mao Mao couldn’t quite put his finger on what it sounded like. He went ahead of the group and looked, but came across an empty chamber. When he turned back, opening his mouth to speak, he found that his friends were gone.

“Hey, guys? Did you just up and leave?” he asked, but got no response. “Guys?”

There, in the corner of the cavern’s walls, a chunk of texture was missing. The cat squinted and walked toward it, trying to get a better view, but as he did so, it twitched and expanded without warning. 

“What the-” he started to say, now slowly retreating. “What is this, some sort of hallucination magic? Face me head-to-head!”

It expanded again, twitching and flickering like static in a TV screen and emitting a deafening white noise. Just staring at it hurt his eyes. It now blocked the way back out of the cave.

“What is this?” he stammered. “Guys, can you hear me? Are you over there?”

His surroundings began to fracture, two-dimensional cracks running along the cavern walls and spreading to areas far behind them as if they were connected seamlessly. It was like he was stuck in a cracking glass orb or a three hundred and sixty-degree screen. He was too afraid and confused to speak.

The world finally shattered, fragments of reality dissipating and eroding away to reveal nothing but an endless black void in all directions. The white noise stopped, replaced by absolute silence. His heart accelerated as he grasped out at the air and realized that he was entirely by himself, in a world of nothing. He fumbled for words, unable to formulate even one sentence. So someone made a few sentences for him.

**“How does it feel, Mao Mao? To be left alone, without the people who care about you. You’re going to die like this,”** a voice called to him from above.

As it dawned on him who was speaking, tears began to roll down his fuzzed cheeks. “No, no, nonono…” he muttered, his voice trembling.

**“You thought you could run from me? No, I’ll go anywhere you go.”**

He started grasping at the sides of his head so hard his claws pierced through his gloves and began to dig into his temples. It was getting much, much harder for him to breathe.

**“You want to forget I existed, but you won’t. You can’t.”**

The cat looked up to the black sky in his terror. “I-It was an accident! You _know_ I wouldn’t-”

**“It wasn't an accident. You can lie to the others, but you can't lie to yourself. It was _fear_. You were afraid! And look what happened.”**

Tears poured out faster from his face, blurring his vision. His claws dug deeper into his skin, puncturing it.

**“You're no hero; you're a coward. You failed me. It was your fault; your mistake. You earned this.”**

The world was spinning; he didn’t know where he was. He fell to the ground on his side, his chest growing heavier and heavier. His breaths became shorter and faster.

**“I was waiting for you, and you never came.** **What do you have to say for yourself?”**

_ “I’m sorry!” _ he shrieked.

_ “Mao Mao!” _ a small voice shouted. All at once, his world was filled with dim light. He shot up, hitting his head against the bunk above his own. His breathing was accelerated, and he was shaking. A teary-eyed bat and a badger stared down at him with concern.

“You started muttering, and then you were clawing at your skin! And then- and then you  _ screamed _ , and we-”

“Adorabat, please!” Badgerclops said harshly. “We don’t want to stress him any more.” He looked at the trembling cat and put a hand on his shoulder. “You okay, bro? You’ve got, uh…” He pointed to his own cheek.

Mao Mao wiped his face off with an arm to find tears and a bit of blood that had trickled down from the punctures he left in his head. “I’m okay. Just dreaming about... family stuff.”

“Oh. Well, I’m always here for you, Mao Mao,” Adorabat stated from the shoulder of the large badger.

“Yeah, man!” he agreed. “Let us know if there’s anything you need: lemonade; midnight pizza; some of yesterday’s cobbler; anything. No cookies, though. I ate them.”

“You ate the cookies?  _ All  _ of them?”

“Adorabat, don’t look at me like that. I can see the judgement coming out of those beady little eyes you’ve got.”

“Badgerclops, my eyes are huge. And you almost never even open-”

The cat abruptly stood, and sudden silence fell over his friends. He made his way out of their bedroom and headed toward the restroom. “I just need a second,” he told them.

The door closed and clicked as he turned the lock. He gripped the edge of the sink tightly, scratching the porcelain with his claws.

_ Why now? _ he asked himself.  _ Why am I dreaming about this now? _

His breaths were heavy and off-rhythm. Tears fell into the sink one by one.

_ Who am I if I’m not a hero? _

Nausea began to emerge in his gut as he looked up at his own reflection in the mirror, disgusted by what he saw.

_ I just want to forget. How do I forget? _


	3. Chapter 3

Mao Mao slouched up out of bed, the wooden frame creaking loudly in response to his movements. There were bags under his eyes, and his fur was ruffled with black tufts sticking out in places they shouldn’t be. He walked out of the room and looked into the kitchen.

“Morning, bro! You doing alright?” Badgerclops asked. He was cooking up some eggs, adding measurements of various ingredients and spices he’d found throughout the kitchen. “We figured we’d let you sleep in, what with… you know...”

A blue bat, standing on the dining table, asked, “Are you okay, Mao Mao? After you were in the bathroom last night, you walked in and just went right back to bed. Do you want to talk-”

“I _don’t_ want to talk about it, actually. It was just family stuff,” he said, grabbing a muffin from the counter.

Badgerclops set the frying pan off to the side and stepped away from the stove. “Look, I know that that stuff is really touchy because it’s your family, not ours. And I can’t really impose my opinions because I haven’t gone through what you’ve gone through. But even I know that it would probably help if you expressed how you’re feeling a little bit. Come on, we’re your bros!”

The cat avoided his friend’s stare, looking absentmindedly at the muffin he’d picked up. Two large, yellow eyes moved in to block his view.

“Hey, you sounded really afraid in your sleep, and I-”

 _“Afraid?”_ he scowled at the word, pulling up his lip to show some teeth. Adorabat retreated; it was clear that she’d struck some sort of nerve. He turned on his heel, exited the kitchen, and headed for the front door.

Badgerclops peeked his head out of the kitchen at him. “Dude, come on. Mao Mao, I know you’re upset, but-”

“I’m going on patrol and then I’m going to pick up some groceries,” he stated, closing the wooden door behind him. He mounted the aerocycle, started the engine, took a large bite of his muffin, and initiated the rear thruster, taking off into the sky.

\- - - - - - - - - -

“Pinky, this is the third time this _week_ you’ve been caught going through people’s trash! And it’s only Tuesday!” the sheriff shouted angrily. He ripped off a sheet of paper he’d jotted a few notes on and clapped it into the small gremlin’s hand. “What are you hoping to find?”

The pink creature opened his mouth to speak, but was promptly interrupted once more by the officer standing before him.

“You know what? Why am I even asking that? I don’t want to know.” He walked away, heading back to his aerocycle with furrowed brows and a hand to his forehead.

A shriek cut through the air, something calling out from far away. It sounded as if it was coming from the central plaza. Without hesitation, the armored cat jumped on his vehicle and took off. From the air, it was difficult to see. Wherever the danger was, it wasn’t visible from the sky; he’d have to search on foot.

He parked beside the plaza’s fountain, jumping off of the seat and running full speed toward the source of the commotion. The voice sounded like it belonged to Chubbum. It led him down a few stone paths until he finally came across an unusually dark alley. It was like the surfaces of the adjacent stone walls were painted a silvery shade of black. The closer he stared at the writhing, swirling, darkened walls, the more unnatural they seemed. He was too confused for words.

“Useless,” a distorted, yet familiar voice spoke from within the alley. “But the king would know where to find it. I’ll just have to get to him.”

The cat was frozen, the world spinning uncontrollably before him. He took a few steps back. “Runa? No, I’m hallucinating,” he spoke to himself. “You can’t be, because she was-”

The unconscious body of Chubbum skidded out from the alley, stopping just before the sheriff’s feet. Two laser-like eyes of yellow cut through the dark, pointed at him.

“Mao Mao,” the voice called. “What a touching reunion. Surprised I’m not dead?”

The shadows on the walls of the alley began to slowly retreat, retracting into the back of a recognizable feminine figure.

The fox chuckled as the colors of her red and grey fur were revealed in the light. “You should’ve finished the job a long time ago, scaredy-cat.”


End file.
